Click the image above or use the arrows to see more photos from the Lang Creek Brewery.
MARION – Down this rutted gravel road, 40 miles from the nearest incorporated town and 20 miles from a post office, loyal patrons of “America’s Most Remote Brewery” are tipping back beers and trying to cope with loss.
They are losing their beloved watering hole.
Owners Gary and Clydene Bultman recently announced that Lang Creek has quit brewing beers and is selling off its remaining inventory, bringing an end to one of the oldest and well-known breweries in the state.
The announcement weighs heavy on Ron Pearson’s mind. Over the past five years, Pearson has routinely made the short trip to Lang Creek’s front door from his cabin on nearby Middle Thompson Lake via kayak, four-wheeler or automobile. He usually arrives with his buddy and fellow retiree Tom Hill.
On a recent Tuesday, the two friends were sipping brews with what Pearson said were “tears in our eyes.”
“We’ve been out here living the dream and now part of our dream is gone,” Pearson said.
In 1993, longtime homebrewer John Campbell converted his airplane hangar outside of Marion, just across the Lincoln County line, into a brewery. He sold his first beer the following year. Since then, with brews such as Tri-Motor Amber and Mandarin Hefeweizen, Lang Creek has become a household name in Montana and beyond, boasting popularity in cities up and down the West coast.
Prior to 1993, Campbell had been making beer for years, sharing it with friends and family but never viewing it as a business endeavor. But then one day Campbell, also a flying enthusiast, was given a simple suggestion: “Why don’t you merge your passions?” Thus, in a rolling meadow tucked away in the Thompson River Valley, the aerial-themed Lang Creek Brewery was born.
As part of that merging of passions, Campbell maintained a close relationship with Skydive Lost Prairie over the years, naming a beer Skydiver Blonde Ale and hosting hordes of skydiving enthusiasts who traveled from the nearby Lost Prairie airfield. When Campbell sold the business several years ago, the new owners carried on his traditions, as did the latest owners, the Bultmans.
Montana’s commercial microbrewing movement began for all practical purposes in 1987 with the establishment of Bayern Brewing in Missoula. Following Bayern was a handful of others scattered around the state, including the now defunct Whitefish Brewing Company. When Campbell got his license in 1993, he was the sixth in Montana.
Joe Barberis, the head brewmaster at Great Northern Brewing Company in Whitefish, worked with Campbell for 11 years beginning in 1995. Barberis said Lang Creek helped bring the microbrew culture to the Flathead.
“We were definitely a little bit ahead of the time,” Barberis said. “The craft brew revolution hadn’t reached the valley yet.”
As more and more breweries sprouted up, Lang Creek, like other longtime Montana staples such as Bayern and Kettlehouse Brewing Co., persevered through the 1990s and this decade. But while Lang Creek’s remote location is appealing for its beauty and sense of Big Sky ruggedness, it poses business difficulties.
Unlike other breweries, particularly within city limits, Lang Creek made minimal revenues from its taproom. Kettlehouse, close to a college campus in Missoula, is consistently packed with customers in the afternoons and evening, as are other taprooms like the Flathead Lake Brewing Company.
Instead, Lang Creek relied on distribution, effectively marketing itself across the Northwest United States. But bottling and shipping carry significant costs. On top of those challenges, the microbrewing industry has become far more saturated and competitive. Lang Creek’s marketing director Camillia Lanham said, from a business point of view, it no longer made sense to continue operating.
“The idea was great, the location was awesome – it’s such a gorgeous piece of property,” Lanham said. “But business-wise it’s just hard to make a living when you don’t have consumers all around you.”
Using state-of-the-art equipment, Lang Creek has been churning out 2,500 barrels – 5,000 kegs – of beer per year under the ownership of the Bultmans. Through the expertise of multiple brewers, a couple of new beers have been introduced, including the popular Fish On! But the old standbys have endured, most notably the Mandarin Hefeweizen, which Lanham said has made up 60 percent of sales.
The Bultmans are figuring out whether to sell their equipment back to the retailers or to other breweries. The merchandise is being sold at discounted prices. This includes shirts, key chains, pint glasses and a variety of other collectibles. Kegs are going for $70 plus deposit, while the last of the bottles are in stores now.
For those who have made the trek out to Lang Creek, they probably haven’t forgotten the experience. After turning off of U.S. Highway 2 West, near the border of Flathead and Lincoln counties, visitors travel nearly two miles down a tree-lined dirt road before emptying out into a spacious meadow where the brewery awaits.
Once there, they find a place where employees step outside to share their lunch breaks in the company of moose and deer. Few people would refute Lang Creek’s claim as “America’s Most Remote Brewery.”
“It’s such a distinctive spot,” Lanham said. “It’s not replaceable, that’s for sure.”